400,000 People Moved To California Last Year

Yes it’s true. Everyone wants to live here. We have great weather, a beautiful coastline, amazing mountains and an endless array of things to eat and do in the Golden State.

Since 2010, the population of our great state has grown by around 1% according to trends. In a state of nearly 40 million people, that’s a lot. That means we have had almost 3 million new people here over the last 6 years.

Population by county has been pretty astounding as well. Los Angeles County now has over 10 million people, Orange County and San Diego County are now over 3 million and San Bernardino and Riverside Counties registering over 2 million residents.

As great as a new infusion of blood is into the state, we are now going to have to face greater amounts of traffic, pollution and a housing crisis that may cause home prices and lease rates to continue to rise.

High Demand for Housing

In fact, we are currently in a housing crisis. There are way more people in the state than the number of housing units we can get them into. So demand is high and supply is low.

This naturally causes prices to increase, so if you own a home in California, you should be pretty happy about that. But people who want to rent are singing a different tune.

Lease Rates are Won’t Stop Rising

Los Angeles is facing is a leasing crisis on its own. Rent prices have been surging year after year and demand is still high. In fact, rent is getting so expensive it is pricing many out of the city and forcing them to move into other towns in Los Angeles County that is more affordable. This in turn causes traffic to increase since people will now have to commute to work and clog the freeways doing so. West

How To Invest Wisely

For those thinking of buying a home in Los Angeles and Orange Counties who want to see their investment values grow quickly, watch the herd.

Buyers who are getting priced out of places like Santa Monica and Culver City are moving into more affordable areas like West Adams, Inglewood, Leimert Park and Jefferson Park. Those looking into Orange County should really consider the more affordable towns of Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

A lot of renovation is being done in all of these towns causing prices to rise and homeowner equity to grow. The sooner you purchase, the more you will be able to reap the reward in the long run.

Ramsey Judah is a broker with The Judah Group and can be reached at ramsey@TheJudahGroup.com and @RamseyJudah on Twitter and Instagram.